Locals with ties to Ukraine worry, pray
Butler County residents with ties to Ukraine have been closely observing the conflict with Russia that has been ongoing in the eastern end of the country for seven years, but are heartsick over the potential invasion many say is being planned by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Rev. Yurii Bobko, pastor at Saints Peter and Ukrainian Orthodox Church, said the denomination’s Council of Bishops gave its blessing to a specific prayer to be said not only during each service’s Divine Liturgy, but by all congregation members as they go about their daily lives.
The prayer remembers and supports Ukraine, its government authorities, armed forces and all residents of the country, and asks God to protect them from the enemy.
He said while tension has been building for seven years as the war in the east rages on, people were especially concerned at the time he visited his homeland this past summer.
“Obviously, people are in some kind of tension now,” Bobko said. “They realize the invasion could happen anytime, but still, at the same time, everyone needs to live their normal life.”
The Kremlin has amassed 130,000 troops along parts of the Ukrainian border, and additional equipment, medical units and even blood has been moved to the front, according to reports.
Experts have surmised that Putin, who annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 although the Kremlin agreed not to invade Ukraine after receiving its nuclear warheads, is trying to cement his legacy through a Ukraine invasion by establishing influence in Europe.
The United States has committed 3,000 troops to Poland, Germany and Romania in an effort to support the region.
Bobko was born in Ukraine in 1995, when the country was totally different.
“It was very peaceful and a good life,” he said. “You couldn’t imagine that something like this could happen.”
He recalls watching World War II movies at home, but never imagining the tanks and soldiers that appeared on the television screen could be a scene threatening his country.
Bobko said if Putin had Ukraine, he would have access to the surrounding countries, and those countries are worried Putin will have nefarious intentions for them.
“They know what could happen,” Bobko said.
The pastor, known by his congregants as “Father Yurii,” is satisfied with the United States’ response to the situation in Ukraine.
“I think America is doing OK with supporting Ukraine,” Bobko said. “The president is very much for Ukraine.”
Bobko said there is one thing Butler County residents can do to support Ukrainians as the situation with Russia plays out.
“What we can do now is to pray to God that everything will be peaceful and no invasion will be done and everything will come to a positive result,” he said.
The Council of Bishops disbursed a letter to Ukrainian Orthodox churches, which was recently included in the weekly bulletin at Saints Peter and Paul.
“The scare and intimidation tactics with the presence of the armed vehicles and over a hundred thousand of soldiers around the borders of Ukraine combined with systematic cyberattacks at all levels of life in Ukraine can only be interpreted as terroristic threats that target innocent lives of Ukrainian citizens,” the letter said.
In the letter, the bishops called Russia the “aggressor nation of modern times,” and noted Ukraine has always been coveted by other countries due to its abundant national resources and longtime status as the “breadbasket of Europe.”
“It is no secret that Russia, under the guise of the ‘Soviet Union,’ wanted not only the rich natural resources, but just as importantly a buffer zone between itself and the rest of the western world,” the bishops wrote.
The letter said Ukraine, a blossoming democracy, inspires other nations toward those values of freedom.
“In seeking to control the land, the resources and the political system, hardly a thought has ever been given to the real people who live in that land,” the letter states. “These people are the ‘nation’ of Ukraine, and that nation possesses a self-identity that is impossible to annihilate.”
The letter is signed by Metropolitan Antony and Archbishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and includes the Prayer for Ukraine.
Church member Karen Sheptak of Butler said the current tension in Ukraine is discouraging because although the country has defended itself against various aggressors over many years, Ukraine has never attacked another country.
She agreed with Bobko that Ukraine is a desirable nation to the power-hungry Putin because of its location.
“Just like Pennsylvania is a keystone, Ukraine is a keystone also,” Sheptak said.
She said during the oppression by Stalin and Lenin, Ukrainian families, doctors, lawyers, philosophers, musicians and others were ruthlessly moved around, sometimes to Siberia.
“That was an attempt to destroy the culture of Ukraine,” Sheptak said.
Sheptak’s grandparents emigrated to the United States from Ukraine.
She hopes the United States will continue to support Ukraine if an invasion happens.
“I think it would be terrible to leave Ukraine without any kind of support,” Sheptak said. “They always say if one person is enslaved, then no one is free.”
